PM Mitchell: The picture is a hoax

Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell has dismissed as fraudulent a picture posted on the website of a Miami-based blogger which shows him in the company of someone named PK Sandhu who is the alleged holder of a Grenada diplomatic passport.

PM Mitchell was seen in this photo with the controversial PK Sandhu which was described as a hoax and the work of a con-artist using photoshop

Well-placed sources told THE NEW TODAY that the Prime Minister addressed the issue at last week’s Cabinet meeting held at the Ministerial Complex in the Botanical Gardens.

A usually reliable source said that Dr. Mitchell told Cabinet colleagues that he does not know where the picture came from since he does not know Sandhu and had never ever met him in person.

He said that PM Mitchell accused someone of using modern technology like the Adobe Photoshop graphic programme to superimpose the picture showing him with Sandhu.

A female political activist of the ruling New National Party (NNP) had called a local radio station on the same day of the Cabinet meeting to charge that someone had used “photoshop” to fraudulently create the Mitchell/Sandhu photograph.

A government insider told this newspaper that he doubted Sandhu is indeed a Grenada diplomat.

He said if the individual was granted diplomatic status with a passport that the procedure calls for him to at least visit the island and to meet with government officials including the Cabinet of Ministers.

“It will be highly unusual for any government to appoint someone as a diplomat to do work on behalf of the country and no one in the government knows him”, he said.

“Remember this: The Prime Minister is telling his Cabinet ministers that he does not know the man (Sandhu), and he of all persons will be the most suitable person to know all who have been appointed to work in a diplomatic capacity”, he added.

Health Minister, Nickolas Steele has branded the posting of the picture by the blogger known as Kenneth Rijock as part of an election tactic to prevent the ruling New National Party (NNP) government from winning the upcoming general election.

Steele did not name the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) as part of the “campaign” to discredit the Mitchell-led regime.

Congress is known to be the main challenger to NNP in the upcoming general election which some pundits are predicting will be held befor

Rijock claimed in a blog posted on August 31 that a UK company alleged that Sandhu who is getting diplomatic protection in Grenada forced it into liquidation due to his so-called “criminal conduct”.

The blogger alleged that Sandhu has relocated to Grenada and is currently out of the reach of UK law enforcement agencies.

THE NEW TODAY has not been able to ascertain that Sandhu is living on the island.